November began with the first few models of my White Council force, Gandalf and Elrond. I really enjoyed cracking into these as it was my first real attempt at a textured highlight. It was also the first time I really felt like I’d acheived the effect I wanted with the swords, and I’m really proud of the result on both.
The only new addition to the Azog’s Legion were the Mirkwood Spiders. A fun addition and something i’ve been loving using in games.
And last but not least I painted up 8 figures for a painting guide in this months issue of Tabletop Gaming Magazine.
I want to get a lot more done in December and round out my first year doing this with a good number 🙂
I want to look into expanding my Azog’s Legion army by the way of allies. With ‘Master of Battle’ being such a strong addition to Azog I knew I needed to look at green allies. That kind of thematic link being something I look for in a force anyway. That meant Azog’s Hunters or the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur.
If you’ve been reading my recent Middle Earth SBG posts you’ll know I have a history with Dol Guldur and it didn’t take me long to look in their direction, especially with those tasty Nazgul models. This was my nine from around 8 years ago, no longer with me unfortunately…
So the first port of call was a few of the Nine to start them off. After looking through the profiles and what came in each pack I settled on this lot…
The Slayer of Men was on the radar straight away. +1 to wound is always a great boon, especially on someone I wanted leading some troops. The Dark Headsman made the cut partly because of the awesome sculpt, but a nice special rule for that chance of killing a juicy target helped too. With the Witch King coming along too, I was sold. +1 Might is another no brainer over some of the other rules the Nine offer and for the captain like purpose I would like to use them for.
You’ll notice the Witchking is missing his sword, just awaiting a peice so I can do a small conversion on him.
With some ‘captains’ to lead some Dol Guldur warbands I also wanted some unique units to go with them. Whilst I could easily throw in some Gundabad Orcs, an advantage that makes this list a natural ally, I wanted something I couldn’t get anywhere else. This inevitabally led me down a nostalgia path once again…
That’s right, Spiders. Alongside my Necromancer force I used to collect a force of giant spiders led by the Spiderqueen. I said I didn’t want to repeat my past armies, but here we are.
These should give me a nice wee boost in choices and offer some different tactical options. I’ll take a look at that once I’ve had a few games with them.
Nxt up will be some more reinforcements for Azog’s Legion, not allies, but some of the big guys!